red cross – Page 8 – American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region

What’s it like to be a refugee?

This September 9-11, the Red Cross will be taking part in a humanitarian crisis simulation put on by the University of Minnesota. The goal of the weekend event is for participants to gain an understanding of the realities and difficulties facing humanitarian aid professionals and the people they serve. Volunteers, role-playing as refugees, doctors, United Nations Peacekeepers, and others, will transform a boy-scout camp in Cannon Falls, Minnesota into the scene of an international humanitarian crisis. Participants will encounter displaced refugees, outbreaks of disease, roving militias, and many multidisciplinary problems typical of humanitarian catastrophes.

University of Minnesota humanitarian crisis simulation course (Photo credit: UMN)

Pj Doyle, a longtime Red Cross volunteer for the Minnesota Region, explains how the Red Cross’s involvement in the simulation helps the larger community: “As stewards of the Geneva Conventions, each national society is charged with disseminating information on International Humanitarian Law to citizens. This humanitarian simulation provides hands-on means for our chapter of the American Red Cross to fulfill this role.” Volunteers from the Minnesota Red Cross region will be role-playing as delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross. During the simulation they will work on registering refugee role-players.

The simulation started in 2011 as a collaborative project co led by faculty in the Schools of Medicine and Public Affairs. Since then it has expanded to include the involvement of several different schools at the University of Minnesota and various NGOs, as well as the Minnesota National Guard. During the simulation, participants first attend didactic sessions that cover issues common to humanitarian catastrophes. Participants are then placed in multidisciplinary groups and act as emergency response teams. Throughout the weekend, these teams will assess various “camps” and “villages” as they assess problems such as malnutrition, security, and human rights violations. After their assessment, each team will develop a proposal for an intervention and present their solution to a board.

University of Minnesota humanitarian crisis simulation, 2015 (Photo credit: UMN)

The course is a valuable learning experience for anyone who is interested in or currently pursuing a career in humanitarian aid work, as well as professionals currently working with former refugees. It is offered for a fee to adult participants from the community, and as a one credit graduate elective at the University of Minnesota. While the course places an emphasis on the public health aspects of humanitarian relief, the simulation provides an opportunity for anyone to develop and shape skills necessary for success in all areas of humanitarian work.

Both participants and volunteers are still needed and welcome for the simulation. Those interested in participating as a student or volunteering can learn more by emailing umnsim@umn.edu. To see more photos from the 2015 humanitarian simulation, click here.

Story by Adam Holte, American Red Cross Minnesota Region, International Services Intern

Grateful for volunteers, proud of response

Disaster relief supplies for summer storm clean-up, Mora, Minnesota, July 2016. Photo: Red Cross

We are so proud of, and grateful for, all of the Red Cross disaster workers who have responded to tornadoes and flooding relief efforts in Minnesota.

Below are some stats about the Red Cross relief provided as of July 18. To see feature news coverage from July 14, click here.

11 counties reached
65 volunteers and staff responded
3,900 snacks and bottles of water supplied
60 clean-up kits provided
300 bulk items such as gloves, bug spray, sunscreen given at two fixed sites

In addition, Red Cross volunteers conducted damage assessment, which helped the Red Cross and its partners plan relief operations.

When needed, volunteers also met directly with individuals impacted by the tornadoes and flooding to assess relief needs and provide assistance.

Thank you to all who responded to this relief effort!

Vonnie Thomas, a courageous Red Cross volunteer for 65 years

Vonnie Thomas on her official day, June 28, 2016. Photo: Lara Leimbach

June 28, 2016 was officially Vonnie Thomas Day in Minnesota after Governor Mark Dayton proclaimed it so in honor of Ms. Thomas’s sixty-five years of courageous Red Cross volunteer service. Read the proclamation below to learn about this remarkable woman and how she has helped and inspired many people in many ways.

State of Minnesota Proclamation for Vonnie Thomas

Whereas, the American Red Cross depends on the power of volunteers to accomplish its mission of preventing and alleviating suffering; and

Whereas, Nurse Vonnie Thomas has generously volunteered thousands of hours in distinguished leadership service through the American Red Cross over the past 65 years; and

Whereas, she courageously cared for those hurt by more than 40 local, national and international disasters such as the 2012 tornadoes in Minneapolis, the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon, Hurricane Katrina and the 35-W Bridge Collapse; and

Whereas, she has served in many roles on a local, division and national level and is currently a member of the Minnesota Region volunteer leadership team and Disaster Health Services lead and a Staff Wellness Consultant for 13 states; and

Whereas, she is an exceptional leader, innovator, medical professional, skilled instructor, and humanitarian and mentor, and is beloved by staff and volunteers alike; and

Whereas, she is a vibrant, engaged and active volunteer leading a statewide effort to build Integrated Care Teams in Minnesota to help families who’ve lost a loved one, and greatly contributed to the development and implementation of the training materials; and

Whereas, her tremendous voluntary service has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international honor awarded by the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, which celebrates the contributions of nurses and nursing aides to the work of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement; and

Whereas, she finds inspiration in the words of the founder of the American Red Cross, Nurse Clara Barton: “You must never so much think as whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it.”; and

Whereas, she embodies the principles and spirit of the Red Cross and is a wonderful example of unselfish, humble and dedicated service, and an inspiration for us all;

Now, therefore, I, Mark Dayton, Governor of Minnesota, do hereby proclaim June 28, 2016 Vonnie Thomas Day in the State of Minnesota.

Peter Spokes, a wholehearted Red Cross volunteer for 65 years

RedCross16_1115 — Peter Spokes has served 65 years as a Red Cross volunteer. Photo: Lara Leimbach

The Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, declared June 28, 2016, as Peter Spokes Day in recognition of 65 years of volunteer service to the American Red Cross. Read below the proclamation words to learn more about the wholehearted leadership Mr. Spokes has given to us all.

State of Minnesota Proclamation for Peter R. Spokes

Whereas, the American Red Cross depends on the power of volunteers to accomplish its mission of preventing and alleviating suffering;

Whereas, Peter R. Spokes has generously volunteered thousands of hours in distinguished leadership service through the American Red Cross since 1950; and

Whereas, he was recognized and appreciated by the British Red Cross Society for his valuable services rendered during World War II; and

Whereas, he has served as a division and national level volunteer leader, including as a member of the Northwest Division Advisory Council, a member and chair of the National Red Cross Committee on Nominations, as Chairman of the 1974 National Convention in Minneapolis; and

Whereas, he accepted and embraced wholeheartedly his Lifetime Board Membership with the American Red Cross in 1980; and

Whereas, he has led in multiple officer positions on the Board of Directors in Minnesota, including Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer, and has served on a dozen Board Committees throughout the years, and continues committee service to this day; and

Whereas, his inspirational leadership, wisdom, energy, and generosity led to the successful capital campaign and construction project to complete the regional chapter headquarters building in Minneapolis; and

Whereas, his steadfast commitment and incredible vision played a vital role in unifying the Minneapolis and St. Paul Chapters into the Twin Cities Area Chapter; and

Whereas, he is described by his fellow Red Crossers as a bright, shining example, and as having a true sense of servant leadership; and

Whereas, through his kindness and compassion, dedication and leadership, thousands of people around the state, across the country and around the world have been helped through the American Red Cross;

Now, therefore, I, Mark Dayton, Governor of Minnesota, do hereby proclaim June 28, 2016 as Peter Spokes Day in the State of Minnesota.

National VOAD honors Minnesota Red Cross disaster relief worker

rco_blog_img_ruthtalfordnvoad — Red Cross disaster worker Ruth Talford received the 2016 NVOAD Spirit Award. Photo: Megan Mrozek/American Red Cross

We are pleased to announce that Ruth Talford, a disaster relief worker with the American Red Cross Minnesota Region, received the 2016 National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) Spirit Award. This award is given each year to a person who has exhibited outstanding commitment to the NVOAD movement. The award was presented to Ms. Talford during the NVOAD conference held in Minneapolis in late May. Conference participants included more than 400 people representing voluntary organizations from that respond to disasters around the country in a variety of ways, such as feeding, cleaning, and spiritual care. The Minnesota Region of the American Red Cross, the national American Red Cross, and other Red Cross regions were well-represented with several dozen disaster relief workers on-hand. This year’s conference service project was a Red Cross blood drive. Click here to learn more about NVOAD and click here to learn more about the MNVOAD.

Top reason to get involved in Red Cross Home Fire Campaign

rco_blog_img_Phil_and_Bea — Phil Hansen with Bea, 90, at her home in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Story and photo by Kaylee Beevers/American Red Cross Intern

On April 23, Phil Hansen, the senior executive for the American Red Cross Minnesota Region, had the opportunity to participate in Home Fire Campaign activities in St. Cloud. His experience was mostly what he expected: teams made up of Red Cross volunteers and St. Cloud firefighters installed smoke alarms. But this was his first time actually doing installation outreach in homes. “I was really surprised by the number of homes that had inadequate smoke alarms or didn’t have any at all. It was great for us to come in and help make these installations for people who needed it most.” The reason why Phil made the trip to St. Cloud is because he truly believes in what these installations are doing: saving lives. As of April 2016, Red Cross installed smoke alarms have saved more than 90 lives across the country. For Phil, the best part about making home visits was meeting gracious people and seeing their faces shine with thankfulness after sharing with them a lifesaving gift. “For the future, we plan to see this program grow throughout the country due to the number of lives saved.” One challenge, he says, is the number of volunteers and partners currently participating. “We have great groups going out to serve their communities, but we need more.” And the top reason to get involved: “It’s a great reward knowing you’ve impacted and changed lives within your community.”

Learn more about the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign.

Six inspiring stories about people helping people

On May 6, the American Red Cross in Minnesota presented six awards that honored ten people for their heroic efforts helping others during great times of need. Below we share with you their inspiring stories.

Six of ten heroes honored at the 2016 American Red Cross Minnesota Region’s Heroes Breakfast. They include (clockwise) Shawn Hansen, Bryden Bronikowski, Mike Clark, Jerry Nelson, Jenny Braith and Russ Braith. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross

Duluth teen Bryden Bronikowski was honored with the Youth Good Samaritan Hero Award for helping to save the life of his young cousin. “Panic is your worst enemy,” says Bryden. “Fearing anything can go wrong.” Watch Bryden’s story.

Nisswa Chamber of Commerce president Shawn Hansen received the Community Hero Award for being a vital part of daily coordination and communications during the windstorm disaster relief efforts in Nisswa in July 2015. “As human beings we have to focus on making the world better,” says Shawn. Watch Shawn’s story.

Mike Clark of Eagan received the Military Hero Award for supporting the needs of people in the armed forces. “It gives me an opportunity to connect with people that are just really down to earth,” says Mike. “And they’re really thankful for knowing there’s somebody out there who cares about them.” Watch Mike’s story.

Shoreview resident Jerry Nelson was honored with the Give Life Hero Award for his continuous blood donations and support of organ transplant families. “I’m not a hero for giving blood,” says Jerry. “Transplant patients and the people who get the blood are the heroes.” Watch Jerry’s story.

Willmar_GroupPicture — Three Willmar police officers received Red Cross Heroes awards on May 6, 2016.

Willmar police officers Mike Jahnke, Joshua Helgeson, and Jeff Liebl were honored with the First Responder Hero Award for putting their lives on the line to resolve a potentially tragic situation. “He’s a human being,” says Josh. “It’s our job to help him, and that’s what we did.” Watch Mike, Josh, and Jeff’s story.

Greg Pint received a Red Cross Hero Award. Photo provided courtesy of Greg Pint. — On May 6, 2016, Greg Pint received a Red Cross Hero Award.

Montgomery residents Russ and Jenny Braith, and Lonsdale resident Greg Pint, were honored with the Good Samaritan Hero Award for putting their own lives at risk to save a man from a car going underwater. “I heard him hitting the buttons, the door locking, but no windows coming down,” says Russ. Watch Russ, Jenny and Greg’s story.

Click here to nominate someone for the 2017 Heroes Awards. Post by Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross.

Bringing international humanitarian law to northern Minnesota

By Vanessa Smith, UW-Superior student and Red Cross Intern

It’s hard to believe that one year ago I was on a trip in Washington, D.C. as a member of the Political Science Association at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, and we had the opportunity to visit the national headquarters of the American Red Cross. I was amazed by the fact that Red Cross does far more than what most people assume that it does. Personally, I had always thought that it mostly dealt with blood services, but after visiting national headquarters I learned that the Red Cross also deals with international humanitarian law (IHL) along with several other areas of service.

rco_blog_img_uws-team — UWS students visiting the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. Photo credit: Haji Dokhanchi.

Personally, I was highly interested in Red Cross’s dedication to educating and increasing awareness in regards to IHL. In fact, the American Red Cross has adopted a campaign from the Belgian and French Red Cross’s that have developed a simulation training program called “Raid Cross.” This program explores and addresses the humanitarian issues involved in armed conflict situations, the basic rules of IHL that apply, and the importance of these rules in conflict situations, such as preventing harm to civilians.

I was eager to know if and how I could become involved with the American Red Cross and IHL. So, while I was visiting D.C., I asked my professor if he knew of any internship opportunities in the Twin Ports area with American Red Cross. In fact, he pulled his email up on his smart phone and sent an email to Dan Williams with the Minnesota Red Cross chapter in Duluth, right there on the street in front of the Red Cross national headquarters! By the time I returned from the east coast, I had an interview set up with Dan and was well on my way to starting my journey with American Red Cross.

UWS students participating in Raid Cross training. Photo credit: Kota Yanagidani.

Since then, I’ve been working to educate the local community about IHL. We recently held an event at the Allworth Institute for International Studies at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. This was a lecture by Red Cross volunteer Pj Doyle regarding refugees and immigrants to the United States. At this event, we reached out to more of an older generation in attendance from the area community. The next day we held an actual Raid Cross simulation at the University of Wisconsin – Superior. At the simulation we had almost 50 people in attendance, which included local high school and college students. We did both of these events all in one week! I really enjoyed knowing that we had reached more people in the community regarding IHL and refugee and immigration processes. When speaking to students after the events, I learned that many really enjoyed the experience. Also, I think that the community members were quite pleased, and maybe even surprised by, how beneficial the Raid Cross simulation training was.

High school students during a Raid Cross training at UWS — High school students after a Raid Cross training at UWS. Photo credit: Haji Dokhanchi.

When I started my internship with the Red Cross, I knew this was the kind of work that I wanted experience doing. My major is Political Science and my minor is Global Studies so I’m very interested in various topics, such as law, policy making, international relations, and humanitarian aid. Through my Red Cross internship I continue to learn more and more information that relays back to helping me with my major and it makes me feel especially good because I know that through my internship I’m educating the community on issues that are a passion of my own.

To learn more about IHL for young people, click here. A version of this post was recently published on the Humanity in War blog. To learn more about Red Cross internships and other opportunities to get involved in Minnesota, click here.

4 Ways to #Help1Family on Red Cross Giving Day

Nearly every eight minutes, the American Red Cross extends a helping hand to a family in need that has lost everything – the roof over their heads, their clothes, and their most cherished possessions – to a home fire. Across Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin, the Minnesota Region of the American Red Cross has been busy helping neighbors. But your help is needed on one special day to continue to provide the emergency services that our neighbors depend on every day.

Red Cross Giving Day
On April 21, you have a chance to help families in need whenever and wherever they need it by participating in the national American Red Cross Giving Day to #help1family. A donation of $88.50 can provide a family with a day’s worth of food, plus blankets and other essentials. We’re proud of the disaster relief our region provided last year. This included supporting more than 2,300 people affected by local disasters, which were mostly home fires, and installing more than 1,000 smoke alarms to improve home fire safety.

Become a social ambassador
You can help spread the word about Giving Day – the more people who support Giving Day means we can help more families. Use your social media channels to reach out to friends and family and ask them to donate to #help1family. Here are four ways donations will #help1family:

1. Supporting a family in urgent need: provide funding to give a family a day’s worth of food, blankets, and other essentials.
2. Supplying warm meals: help provide hearty, comforting meals to people impacted by disasters.
3. Providing clean-up kits after a disaster strikes: make clean-up kits available for families in need that include vital items like a mop, bucket, and disinfectant.
4. Deploying an emergency response vehicle for a day: Red Cross workers travel to impacted neighborhoods in fully stocked Emergency Response vehicles to provide food, water and critical relief.

Imagine the impact that we could have on our community if everyone wanted to #help1family.

Thank you!

Red Cross volunteers deserve our thanks

Red Cross volunteer Susan Cebelinski checked in at the Red Cross office in Duluth, Minnesota, on April 6, 2016, before going to Louisiana where she will provide emotional support to people impacted by the flooding. Thank you Susan!

Volunteer /välənˈtir/
Noun
someone who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task

American Red Cross Volunteer
/əˈmerəkən/ /red/ /krôs/ /välənˈtir/
Person
someone who freely donates time to community and country by participating in life changing and saving service

Without volunteers the American Red Cross and its mission to help others would never be fulfilled. The Red Cross depends on volunteers to embrace service within their communities and to come together in times of crisis. During National Volunteer Week, April 10-16, we have the chance to express our gratitude to the women and men, heroes and leaders, and old and young, who voluntarily give their time and expertise, and wear the Red Cross on their shirt sleeves, while working to reduce human suffering.

National Volunteer Week is important to the Red Cross because it has nearly 330,000 volunteers nationwide. From a disaster worker helping one or hundreds, to a military responder comforting an injured solider or family member, or to a blood donor ambassador welcoming someone who’s about to roll-up a sleeve for a cancer patient waiting for lifesaving blood, the Red Cross offers a range of volunteer positions that serve others, both neighbor and stranger. Whether Red Cross volunteers are waking up in the night to assist a family after a fire or teaching a class on how to give first aid, all of them deserve a sincere thank you from us and many others.

To this we say, THANK YOU RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS! Without you, who knows where so many people in need would be today. You’re the light that shines from this organization and you continue to make a difference in your local communities, and across our country, one voluntary service action at a time. Thank you for the hours and hours you’ve given and the number of lives you’ve made better. We know that you generally take the humble path, but during National Volunteer Week it’s your turn to take a bow and accept our applause. We’re grateful for all that you do!

If you’re not a Red Cross volunteer but you know someone who is, give them a hug and say thanks. Ask them about their volunteer service. The many hours they spend helping others is remarkable and worth hearing about. Maybe their stories will inspire you to become a Red Cross volunteer and be the hero in someone’s life.

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